PressEthic

The addition of video and camera technology to mobile phones has given a powerful tool to the ‘citizen journalist’. This form of journalism is open to ethical abuse.

An article by the BBC says that images captured by citizens can add immediacy to news stories. Often professional photographers do not arrive at a news event until after it has occurred. Pictures resulting from the London bombings epitomize this trend. BBC Interactive was one of the many news organizations that used footage taken by people with their mobile phones who were involved in the event. The ‘live’ images gave others a more visceral experience of the terrorist attacks.

However the development of this technology gives rise to several ethical concerns. New Zealand media columnist Russell Brown points out the recent case of Kate Moss. Moss was captured using cocaine on a mobile phone camera. After this story broke Moss lost a number of lucrative modeling contracts. If Moss had known someone would be videoing her, you would assume she would not have engaged in the drug taking.

Citizen journalism shares a number of characteristics with undercover journalism. In both cases, the journalist does not declare their intended purpose. In a previous blog on the ethics of undercover journalism, I concluded that undercover journalism should be used only when there are no other means available to obtain certain information and the information obtained is in the public’s best interest. In the Moss case, was the information obtained really in the public’s interest? It may have interested the public, but the information only served the purpose of titillation.

This precedent has widespread ramifications. Actions and conversations which were intended to be undertaken out of the public eye can be captured by a stealthy citizen journalist. For example, uknown to those involved, footage taken of business meetings, parties, political meetings and university lectures could be made public. This could have a range of serious repercussions. Furthermore these recordings can be posted anonymously, on weblogs and photo sharing websites without much fear of legal reprisal.

Obviously there could be times where this form of journalism does uncover information that is in the best interests of the public (just like undercover journalism can). However mobile technology as a news gathering device is also open to serious abuse. Media organizations should hold any material obtained by these means to the ethical codes they use throughout their organization.